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Sci Adv

Title:		"Small-molecule mimicry hunting strategy in the imperial cone snail, Conus imperialis"
Author(s):		Torres JP; Lin Z; Watkins M; Salcedo PF; Baskin RP; Elhabian S; Safavi-Hemami H; Taylor D; Tun J; Concepcion GP; Saguil N; Yanagihara AA; Fang Y; McArthur JR; Tae HS; Finol-Urdaneta RK; Ozpolat BD; Olivera BM; Schmidt EW;
Address:		"Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. ews1@utah.edu z.j.lin@utah.edu. School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, School of Computing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2200, Denmark. Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines. Department of Tropical Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA"
Journal Title:		Sci Adv
Year:		2021
Volume:		20210312
Issue:		11
Page Number:		-
DOI:		10.1126/sciadv.abf2704
ISSN/ISBN:		2375-2548 (Electronic) 2375-2548 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Venomous animals hunt using bioactive peptides, but relatively little is known about venom small molecules and the resulting complex hunting behaviors. Here, we explored the specialized metabolites from the venom of the worm-hunting cone snail, Conus imperialis Using the model polychaete worm Platynereis dumerilii, we demonstrate that C. imperialis venom contains small molecules that mimic natural polychaete mating pheromones, evoking the mating phenotype in worms. The specialized metabolites from different cone snails are species-specific and structurally diverse, suggesting that the cones may adopt many different prey-hunting strategies enabled by small molecules. Predators sometimes attract prey using the prey's own pheromones, in a strategy known as aggressive mimicry. Instead, C. imperialis uses metabolically stable mimics of those pheromones, indicating that, in biological mimicry, even the molecules themselves may be disguised, providing a twist on fake news in chemical ecology"
Keywords:		Animals;Animals *Conus Snail/chemistry Peptides/chemistry Pheromones/chemistry Snails *Predatory Behavior;
Notes:		"MedlineTorres, Joshua P Lin, Zhenjian Watkins, Maren Salcedo, Paula Florez Baskin, Robert P Elhabian, Shireen Safavi-Hemami, Helena Taylor, Dylan Tun, Jortan Concepcion, Gisela P Saguil, Noel Yanagihara, Angel A Fang, Yixin McArthur, Jeffrey R Tae, Han-Shen Finol-Urdaneta, Rocio K Ozpolat, B Duygu Olivera, Baldomero M Schmidt, Eric W eng P01 GM048677/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R35 GM122521/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ U19 TW008163/TW/FIC NIH HHS/ R35 GM12252/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2021/03/14 Sci Adv. 2021 Mar 12; 7(11):eabf2704. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf2704. Print 2021 Mar"